(Jun. 13, 2024) - Taekwondo has been officially included as one of 25 sports on the competition programme of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), set for Dakar, Senegal, in 2026.

The good news was conveyed to World Taekwondo in a letter from IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper. The letter referenced the IOC Executive Board's decision made on June 13.

“Sports included in the competition programme have been assessed with their respective IFs, in collaboration with local authorities, their NFs in Senegal and more broadly across Africa, to ensure the sports and their chosen disciplines align well with the elite pathways of each sport,” the letter stated.

Dakar 2026 will mark Taekwondo’s fourth consecutive appearance at the YOG, following the most recent edition in Buenos Aires in 2018. World Taekwondo is expected to engage with the IOC in the coming months regarding the detailed event programme, including the competition format, competition schedule and athlete quota.

The 2026 event will mark the YOG’s first appearance in Africa, running from from Oct. 31 to Nov. 13.

The 2026 YOG were originally scheduled for 2022. However, the IOC and the Senegalese government agreed to postpone the event to 2026 due to the operational and other consequences of the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to July 2021 – itself a result of the global Covid pandemic.